Land Use Policy And Development Control: A Look At Imo State Ministry Of Lands And Owerri Capital Development Authority

INTRODUCTION A Lot of complaints has been made by members of the public against the ministry of lands and particularly against the Owerri capital development Authority. However since the appointment of Hon Uche Nwosu, a lot of Checks and balances and or reforms has taken place and somehow public confidence has been restored gradually in the system as it tries to reform itself. For the first time however, Hon Uche Nwosu has made a professional Estate surveyor who is accessible and intellectually compliant, a Director of Lands. Also in the Department of Deeds, The government Certification and documentation of Title is in progress under an effective director. In OCDA unfortunately the rot continues but hopefully…

Have you been wrongfully terminated or dismissed?

I came across an interesting and accepted definition of a gentleman under English Customs and usage. It means a Man of high social Status who does not have to earn a living. Who does not have to earn a living these days? These days, the definition of a gentleman accommodates any person of appropriate breeding and learning and has little to do with his being a member of the gentry or his financial status. Thus we all have to earn a living being gentle men of modern accommodation. It does not matter whether your father is the local butcher or that you barely can afford to feed yourself. You are a gentle man by the…

The General Principles of Defamation (1)

Every human being has a character which helps to shape his reputation in his community. To Bill Clinton, former United States president, character is everything. It defines the individual, his integrity or lack of one. It shapes the view of reasonable people in the community about a person or company. In our African communities, the truth is often the first casualty in any discourse and a person’s character often impinged on by his kinsmen who are hostile to his progress. Many young ladies have not married today because of vicious slander behind their backs and many young men have no one to help them not because they have no integrity but because their kinsmen had…

National Dialogue: Why the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Should Not Represent the Igbo Nation

Recently, the GEJ administration came up with the idea of a national dialogue which in my view is a distraction from the present Civil war he is prosecuting against the Boko Haram rebel group and charges of Corruption against his administration in the backdrop of the cohesive belligerence of the APC. Not many Nigerians are aware of the fact that Nigeria, in the view of the United Nations, the international court of Criminal Justice, The World Bank and the international community is a Nation at War just because, the war has religious connotations. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why we need to have a round table conference with the rest of the Country…

Corruption: The World Bank lists of Nigerian looters and the Code of Conduct Tribunal

Corruption: The World Bank lists of Nigerian looters and the Code of Conduct Tribunal. The Nigerian public was shocked by the revelations by the World Bank, the apex international Credit and development bank which shows the massive looting of the Nigerian economy in the past decades evidenced by foreign accounts owned by the political class, public officers, and the military with outstanding performances by the erstwhile past heads of states, and the powers behind the emerging political challenges in the country. I was devastated by the list not only because of the stupendous amount of loot lying in foreign banks and oiling the British economy and other EU nations that has paid lip service to…

Who Pays Tenement Rates? (2)

Conclusion The South Eastern governments need to review the regulations of tenement rates and ensure that vacant houses, pensioner  occupied houses and family houses and rural dwellers are exempted from tenement rates There should be a drastic reduction of tenement rates in Areas outside of the capital cities to improve housing development in  these areas and arrest rural urban drift. The arbitrariness in the fixing of tenement rates can be checked by regular and physical inspection of the premises to be rated by appropriate valuations. At the same time, we cannot but affirm the illegality the action of the Lagos state government under the Land Use Charge law No 11 of 2001 of Lagos state, …

Terrorism And Its Impact On Political And Religious Freedom In Nigeria (3)

In the final analysis, Nigeria has no Data base on Terrorism that is credible and dependable. For a country that cannot count itself, no reliance can be placed on facts and figures produced by any state department because it may be influenced by other considerations, including perhaps, the amplification of fear to generate better needless federal funding.                      The federal government war on terror is going awry. It has sent out the signal that it can’t defend itself as it is prepared to negotiate with terrorists contrary to standard protocols and findings on the subject of non negotiation. Nigeria remains a black spot on the troubled conscience of the world where Children are murdered for going…

TERRORISM AND ITS IMPACT ON POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN NIGERIA

“Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion,” 1999 constitution of Nigeria. There is no legally acceptable definition of terrorism to scholars or the United Nations but the definition in use is sectoral conventions. In fact there are as many definitions of the subject as are Authors on the subject. The definition of the term terrorism by a Terrorist is likely to be as unacceptable but we can establish the essential ingredients of Terrorism at least. As Lord Denning Once noted, if we cannot define an Elephant, we know an Elephant when we see One.   What is Terrorism? Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of…

SECURITY CHALLENGES, LAW ENFORCEMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN ORLU 2

SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS The challenges of security, law enforcement and unemployment cannot be wished away but a careful consideration and reevaluations will ensure a remarkable improvement of the security services and infrastructures of law enforcement that ensures a sustainable social justice system. The best way to improve the security system is to build a military cantonment in Orlu town centre preferably, now, besides NEPA to ensure proper engagement of violent crimes. The state government can build and hand over to the army such a compact cantonment   with an existing prototype by St Dominic’s, yaba Lagos. This will be complimented by the rules of convergence of police units from all over the state to give sustainable backups…

AN OVERVIEW OF THE JUSTICIABILITY OF THE FUNDAMENTAL OBJECTIVES AND DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY UNDER THE 1999 CONSTITUTION

The constitution has provided guidelines of the fundamental objectives of good governance which frames the directive principles of state policy. Thus when we talk about clueless and visionless leaders, we are talking about the inept leadership that is not concerned with the growth of society but with the enlargement of their greed and self aggrandizement. There are sufficient guidelines in our constitution to give sight to the politically blind and propagate a new generation of responsible leadership.   A lot of our leaders go through Life appropriating the resources of society and stealing from the poor. They are basically illiterate in many cases or under educated but today they have acquired doctorate degrees without understanding…

The Role of Lawyers and the Courts in the Enforcement of the Fundamental Rights of the Citizen

There are many guarantees made by the 1999 constitution which has been habitually infringed upon and treated particularly, by the courts with indifference and by the state with criminality.   These letters of the law became sterile litanies and mimicry of eloquent respect for human liberties whilst the contrary is practiced. Today over 80 percent of the inmates of Nigerian prisons are awaiting trial .Many have completed the number of years they would have spent in jail if they are convicted. Many are pregnant whist in the custody of prison Authorities and or serving terms with their babies.   A substantial number of these citizens whose rights have been raped are innocently accused of crimes…

LAND LAW: FIVE WAYS OF PROVING OWNERSHIP OF A LAND IN A DISPUTE

Land Disputes are very common in Southern Nigeria because of the growing scarcity of land for agriculture, housing development, and the development of infrastructures. We readily agree with economists who state that land is in short supply and accept the Biblical insights that God has since stopped creating land and rested. Human populations on the other hand have continued to increase with associated problems of housing and food security. This explains why we have increasing litigations in our states especially in the South east where the demand for land has led to large scale migrations and many in our lands buy land at such exorbitant costs or engage in exploratory adventurous litigations. In Igbo land,…